2012/11/16: Euractiv: Washington weighs moving climate politics beyond UNFCCC
The US is considering a funnel of substantive elements of the Doha Climate Summit away from the UN framework and into the Major Economies Forum (MEF), a platform of the world’s largest CO2 emitters, EurActiv has learned. Since 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has provided an umbrella for talks to curb global greenhouse gas emissions, and on 26 November, will host the COP18 Climate Summit in Qatar. But it has been confirmed to EurActiv that Washington is increasingly looking to shift policy action to the MEF [Major Emitters Forum] whose members account for some 85% of global emissions, and which the US views as a more comfortable venue for agreeing climate goals.

2012/11/15: IPSNews: “Writing Is on the Wall” at Upcoming Climate Summit
Two-thirds of the world’s proven fossil fuel reserves cannot be used without risking dangerous climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned this week. Preventing the consumption of those two-thirds will be the primary task of the annual U.N. climate negotiations that resume at the end of this month.
[…]
A growing number of businesses are asking governments to eliminate subsidies to fossil fuel industries and to impose a carbon tax or fee, said [Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute], who formerly worked at the World Bank. “They know the writing is on the wall and say these changes need to come sooner rather than later,” he said.

The Sheffield et al. paper on drought has kicked off a bit of controversy:

2012/11/15: CSM: How reliable are drought predictions? Study finds flaw in popular tool.
[…]
Dr. Sheffield and colleagues traced the problem with PDSI to the way it handles evaporation rates. Typically, the PDSI has used precipitation and temperature as the key drivers governing evaporation. But researchers have long known that other factors affect evaporation rates as well. These include relative humidity, the amount of the sun’s energy reaching the surface, and wind speed. When the team calculated the PDSI using the temperature-focused approach for evaporation and used the results to identify drought trends, the results indicated that between 1950 and 2008, dryness increased for 98 percent of the globe’s land area. When the team used the more sophisticated approach to calculating evaporation, the picture was more mixed: 52 percent of the land area saw increased drying, while 42 percent saw a decrease. Overall, both approaches show a drying trend, the team reports, but the increase in areas covered by drought using the more complete treatment of evaporation is seven times smaller than the more-simple approach.

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We’ll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile…
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

While in the paleoclimate:

How to deal with Risk:

And on the ENSO front:

2012/11/14: Eureka: Tropical Indo-Pacific climate shifts to a more El Niño-like state
The Walker circulation determines much of the tropical Indo-Pacific climate and has a global impact as seen in the floods and droughts spawned by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Meteorological observations over the last 60 years show this atmospheric circulation has slowed: the trade winds have weakened and rainfall has shifted eastward toward the central Pacific.

What’s new on the extinction front?

2012/11/14: ABC(Au): ‘Toxic sea’ led to Devonian extinction
Analysis of a 380-million-year-old crab-like fossil from Western Australia has painted a gruesome picture of the events leading to one of Earth’s major mass extinctions. Climate change and a devastating meteorite have both been fingered as causes for the decimation of marine life during the late Devonian period. But research published in a recent issue of the journal Geology suggests the extinction occurred as a result of a toxic ocean, devoid of oxygen.

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

Glaciers are melting:

2012/11/14: UIBK: Melting Glaciers Raise Sea Level
Anthropogenic climate change leads to melting glaciers and rising sea level. Between 1902 and 2009, melting glaciers contributed 11 cm to sea level rise. They were therefore the most important cause of sea level rise. This is the result of a new assessment by scientists of the University of Innsbruck. They numerically modeled the changes of each of the world’s 300 000 glaciers. Until 2100, glaciers could lead to an additional 22 cm of sea level rise.

And on the carbon trading front:

2012/11/16: BBerg: ICE Cleared 2013 Carbon Trade Worth About 195 Million Euros
A European Union carbon trade worth about 195 million euros was cleared on the ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday. The trade of 24.68 million metric tons of December 2013 carbon allowances that may have been brokered or carried out directly between the buyer and the seller was at an undisclosed price, according to data from the exchange. The contract traded at 7.90 euros ($10.06) a ton 49 seconds later, the data show.

2012/11/14: EurActiv: EU reveals carbon-market reform package
The European Commission will try to shore up its battered carbon market today (14 November) with a structural report signalling a future squeeze on carbon credits to augment a planned ‘backloading’ or postponing of 900 million allowance auctions until 2019 and 2020.

2012/11/16: EUO: Van Rompuy: financial tax to form part of EU budget
The much vaunted EU financial transaction tax (FTT) is set to be hard-wired into the EU budget, with most of its revenue going directly to the EU. A paper prepared by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and sent to European capitals ahead of next week’s EU budget summit, where leaders aim to agree a mandate on the budget framework for 2014-2020, would deduct FTT revenues from national contributions to the annual EU pot.

On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:

2012/11/12: BBC: EU suspends extension of plane emissions trading rules
The European Union has postponed a planned extension of rules that require airlines to pay for their carbon emissions to include flights to and from non-EU destinations. The rules had been unpopular with the US, China and India among others. Climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said she had proposed “stopping the clock for one year”. She said the suspension was due to progress being made in negotiations on a global emissions deal.

2012/11/12: BBerg: Spain Sees Room for a Deal Between Repsol, Argentina on YPF
The Spanish government says there is room to negotiate terms for Repsol SA (REP)’s departure from Argentina, Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo said speaking before the Spanish Senate. YPF SA stock soared. “There is room for a negotiation,” Margallo said today, according to Germany’s DPA news agency. “It must be done through a regulated procedure and paying a fair price.” The oil explorer based in Madrid is still waiting to file a claim seeking $10.5 billion in compensation at the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, said Kristian Rix, a Repsol spokesman in a phone interview from Madrid. ICSID is the principal arbitration court for claims against sovereign countries. Repsol is seeking compensation after the Argentine government expropriated a 51 percent stake of its YPF unit on April 16.

2012/11/12: AJC: Georgia Power challenges solar company’s plan
Georgia Power, the state’s largest electricity provider, has escalated a fight with a fledgling company that it calls a “solar monopoly.” Georgia Solar Utilities, a startup, wants to build a large solar farm and sell that electricity directly to customers as a utility.

2012/11/15: BBC: BP gets record US criminal fine over Deepwater disaster
[The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused one of the worst oil spills in history] BP has received the biggest criminal fine in US history as part of a $4.5bn (£2.8bn) settlement related to the fatal 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Two BP workers have been indicted on manslaughter charges and an ex-manager charged with misleading Congress. The Department of Justice (DoJ) said BP must hand over $4bn. The sum includes a $1.26bn fine as well as payments to wildlife and science organisations. As part of the agreement, BP will also plead guilty to 14 criminal charges.

2012/11/15: al Jazeera: Settlement reached over BP oil spill
Firm pleads guilty to criminal charges relating to 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster and agrees to pay extra $4.5bn penalty. British oil company BP Plc has pleaded guilty to criminal charges relating to its 2010 oil spill and agreed to pay an extra $4.5bn on top of the tens of billions it is already paying out. BP said on Thursday that it would plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect relating to the death of 11 workers, one misdemeanour count under the Clean Water Act, one misdemeanour count under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and one felony count of obstruction of congress. The company will also pay $525m to settle securities claims with US regulators. In aggregate BP said it will pay the $4.5bn over six years for the various resolutions.

2012/11/16: al Jazeera: Deadly oil platform fire in Gulf of Mexico
Two people killed when an oil rig burst into flames, and several others remain missing. Two people have been killed and at least two others are missing after an offshore oil and natural gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico burst into flames, officials in the US state of Louisiana say. The structure is owned by Black Elk, an energy firm in Houston, according to media reports on local television in Louisiana. Black Elk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

2012/11/15: SacBee: JPMorgan punished for California power-trade violation
In a stunning move, a Wall Street investment bank was suspended from trading electricity for profit in California on Wednesday for submitting false information to federal investigators. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s energy-trading division was suspended from California’s wholesale market for six months starting April 1. The suspension was imposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The decision could cost JPMorgan millions of dollars. The suspension includes other wholesale electricity markets around the country.

2012/11/14: BBC: Analysis: Secret recordings suggest growing tensions over [UK] energy policy
Energy policy is apparently in confusion after a Greenpeace “sting” on senior Conservative politicians. In secret filming, former cabinet minister Peter Lilley seemed to say he thought the Chancellor George Osborne had deliberately manoeuvred climate sceptic ministers into key positions. He said the legally binding Climate Change Act should be made voluntary, or simply ignored. It comes as Energy Minister John Hayes repeated his view that there may be no need for more new applications for on-shore wind farms, once existing targets are met. This contradicts the policy of his boss, the Liberal Democrat Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

2012/11/14: Guardian(UK): Polling day shambles for coalition over climate change policy
Tensions grow as George Osborne’s father-in-law claims chancellor is behind campaign to dilute environment pledges The coalition’s green policy is in disarray after an undercover film revealed George Osborne’s father-in-law claiming that the chancellor is behind a Tory campaign to oppose commitments against climate change. Lord Howell of Guildford, a former minister in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet who stood down as a foreign office minister in September, said the chancellor was “putting pressure” on David Cameron over “absurd” climate change targets.

2012/11/16: EUO: Van Rompuy: financial tax to form part of EU budget
The much vaunted EU financial transaction tax (FTT) is set to be hard-wired into the EU budget, with most of its revenue going directly to the EU. A paper prepared by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and sent to European capitals ahead of next week’s EU budget summit, where leaders aim to agree a mandate on the budget framework for 2014-2020, would deduct FTT revenues from national contributions to the annual EU pot.

2012/11/12: EurActiv: Without Dalli, GMO foes hope for tougher EU policy
Environmental groups frustrated by Commissioner John Dalli’s outward support of the genetically modified food industry are hoping his successor will take a tougher line. The Commission has frozen requests to authorise more than 20 GM seeds for cultivation that were in the pipeline before Dalli abruptly resigned as health and consumer commissioner on 16 October amid allegations implicating him in a bribery case. Meanwhile, the biotech industry says such delays threaten Europe’s food supplies and economic competitiveness. Mute Schimpf, food campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe whose organisation clashed with Dalli over GMOs, said the former commissioner “had a clear pro-GM agenda”. But she’s hopeful his replacement will be more responsive to what she called staunch public opposition to GM foods.

Meanwhile in Australia:

2012/11/16: ABC(Au): Burke officially declares marine reserves
Fishermen will be offered $100 million in compensation under the Government’s plan to extend marine reserves to cover more than 2.3 million square kilometres of ocean environment. Today’s declaration of the marine parks officially puts into law new restrictions on what fishing and resources activities are allowed in certain areas. The Government announced five draft marine reserves in June, saying it would consult with affected industries about how they should be implemented. Environment Minister Tony Burke says the world’s oceans are under serious threat, and the extension of marine protections will help deal with the growing problem.

2012/11/16: ABC(Au): Solar panel subsidies scrapped early
The Federal Government is phasing out its subsidies for solar panels six months early. Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says the solar credits scheme will stop at the beginning of next year. Mr Combet says there is strong demand for solar power and that scrapping the subsidies will ease pressure on power prices and place the industry on a sustainable footing. He says the overall reduction in power bills is estimated to be up to $100 million next year.

2012/11/16: ABC(Au): Brickbats and bouquets for marine reserve network
There have been mixed reactions in WA to the Federal Government’s official declaration of marine reserves. The Wilderness Society says the network is a good start but more needs to be done to protect the marine environment but Recfishwest says it is ‘dumbfounded’ and ‘outraged’ by the announcement. Nationally the marine reserve network covers more than 2.3 million square kilometres of ocean.

2012/11/13: ABC(Au): Renewable energy agency won’t back solar park
The agency in charge of developing solar technology in Australia says it will not support a proposed project in north-west Victoria. TruEnergy’s bid to build a 173-megawatt solar park near Mildura was referred to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, after the project was overlooked for federal funding from the Solar Flagships program earlier this year. However, the agency announced yesterday that it will not support the proposal because of its similarity to a project at Broken Hill.

2012/11/13: ABC(Au): Solar thermal project a no-go
The Clean Energy Council says it is disappointed a billion dollar solar thermal project on Queensland’s Western Downs will not go ahead. The Solar Dawn consortium has abandoned plans to build a 250-megawatt plant near Chinchilla.

2012/11/13: ABC(Au): Govt seals deal on power revamp
Tasmania’s Energy Minister Bryan Green has revealed he has struck a deal with the Greens on major changes to the state’s energy sector. The minority government partners had clashed over how best to deal with Hydro Tasmania’s monopoly on energy production in the state. After weeks of negotiations, Mr Green says he expects the Lower House will approve legislation on Thursday to allow for the regulation of the state-owned company.

2012/11/13: ABC(Au): Abbott support hits new low in poll
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says Labor’s “endless personal attacks” are to blame for a slump in his personal satisfaction rating in the latest opinion poll. The Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper shows just 27 per cent of those surveyed are satisfied with the way Mr Abbott is doing his job, compared with 63 per cent who are unhappy with his performance. His satisfaction rating is now at its lowest level since he became Opposition Leader, although the poll shows the Coalition would still win an election held today.

2012/11/13: ABC(Au): Greens highlight reef coal project worries
Greens Senator Larissa Waters says there is a high level of concern among the Capricorn Coast community in central Queensland about plans to “industrialise” the Great Barrier Reef. Ms Waters held a public meeting last night in Yeppoon, north of Rockhampton, about the future of the reef and will meet fishermen and local businesses in Gladstone tonight. She says several coal port projects are proposed in the Fitzroy and Keppel Bay area and the community is strongly opposed to the plans.

2012/11/12: ABC(Au): Sun sets on Solar Dawn
The agency that approves renewable energy projects in Australia has knocked back some of the country’s biggest proposed solar projects. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency – ARENA – has decided not to fund the $1 billion Solar Dawn solar-thermal project in Queensland. It’s also rejected a 180 megawatt solar photovoltaic project in northern Victoria. Instead, ARENA wants to fund more projects in regional and remote Australia.

The carbon bill is law. The Aus-EU ETS is codified. Now come the practicalities…and the finagling:

A report on methane levels around fracking sites kicked a hornet’s nest:

2012/11/14: TheAge: Gas body fired up over reports of methane leaks
Vast amounts of methane appear to be leaking undetected from Australia’s biggest coal seam gas field, according to world-first research undercutting claims by the gas industry. Testing inside the Tara gasfield, near Condamine on Queensland’s western downs, found some greenhouse gas levels more than three times higher than nearby districts, according to the study by researchers at Southern Cross University. Methane, carbon dioxide and other gases appear to be leaking through the soil and bubbling up through rivers at an astonishing rate, the researchers said.

2012/11/14: ABC(Au): Drinking water polluted for years, say Greens
The Tasmanian Greens claim it has been known for two years that drinking water at a north-east Tasmanian town was contaminated with lead. Last week Ben Lomond Water issued a public notice advising the residents of Pioneer that the town’s drinking water supply was contaminated with lead. It could take weeks to fix the problem and a temporary water supply has been set up outside the local town hall.

2012/11/14: CBC: Ottawa denies funding for wildfire prevention program
FireSmart hoped to develop national standards to protect forested communities The federal government has turned down a request for support from a group that is working to protect communities from wildfires such as the one that ravaged Slave Lake, Alberta. FireSmart Canada asked Ottawa for about $1 million over two years in seed money to help get its national program off the ground.

The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

2012/11/11: G&M: Enbridge’s ‘errata’ on caribou could prove a costly error
By itself, the pipeline that Enbridge proposes to build across British Columbia might not pose a great threat to caribou. The problem is, the Enbridge Northern Gateway project cannot be taken in isolation. Its impact has to be assessed cumulatively with the highways, gas and power lines that already exist — and therein lies an enormous environmental challenge that could bring the project to a halt. Chris Tollefson, a lawyer representing BC Nature and Nature Canada at the federal review hearings, seemed to recognize that last week, when he hammered away at the numbers behind Enbridge’s “density threshold,” which sets out how much development can take place in caribou habitat before the animals fall into population decline. And in the process of finding out where the numbers came from, Mr. Tollefson revealed just how shaky Enbridge’s caribou plan really is.

Have you noticed the dispute resolution mechanisms built into these treaties are fundamentally anti-democratic?

2012/11/15: TStar: Ottawa faces $250-million suit over Quebec environmental stance
The Canadian government faces a $250-million suit from a U.S. energy producer over Quebec’s environmental stance, raising new questions about the wisdom of investor rights treaties Ottawa is planning with China and the European Union. Lone Pine Resources Inc. has declared its intention to use its power under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to challenge Quebec’s crackdown on fracking, a controversial drilling technique for releasing oil and natural gas from underground shale rock formations. Under NAFTA’s Chapter 11 dispute resolution provisions, the governments of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico can be sued by private companies that believe their interests as foreign investors have been harmed by discriminatory actions in one of the three countries.

2012/11/14: PostMedia: Tarsands pollution trail shows tougher air quality standards needed immediately, Notley charges
Environment Canada findings a wake-up call for Alberta Environment Canada research that indicates contaminants from Alberta’s oilsands projects are travelling further than expected should be a wake-up call for the province to act immediately to impose tougher air quality standards, the NDP’s environment critic said Wednesday. Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley called for beefed-up pollution controls after news that federal scientists have uncovered evidence that pollutants are collecting on the bottom of remote lakes up to 100 kilometres away from oilsands projects. Environment Canada researchers were to present those findings at an international toxicology conference in the U.S. on Wednesday.

2012/11/17: BBC: Savita Halappanavar: Rallies held in Dublin and Galway
Several thousand people have attended rallies in the Republic of Ireland in memory of Savita Halappanavar, calling for changes to Irish abortion law. The 31-year-old died at a Galway hospital last month. Her family claimed she was repeatedly refused a termination during a miscarriage.

2012/11/14: CBC: Woman dies in Ireland after being denied an abortion
Three probes launched into death of Savita Halappanavar, PM says The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesday after the government confirmed a miscarrying woman suffering from blood poisoning was refused a quick termination of her pregnancy and died in an Irish hospital. Prime Minister Enda Kenny said he was awaiting findings from three investigations into the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian living in Galway since 2008 who was 17 weeks along in her pregnancy.

2012/11/13: Guardian(UK): Scandal in Ireland as woman dies in Galway ‘after being denied abortion’
Health authorities investigating septicaemia death of 31-year-old dentist Savita Halappanavar Health authorities in Ireland are investigating the death of a pregnant woman whose husband says she was denied an abortion following severe complications. Savita Halappanavar, who was 17 weeks pregnant, died of septicaemia a week after presenting with back pain on 21 October at University hospital in Galway, where she was found to be miscarrying. After the 31-year-old dentist was told that she was miscarrying, her husband reportedly said that she had asked for a medical termination a number of times over a three day period, during which she was in severe pain. But he said these requests were denied because a foetal heartbeat was still present and they were told at one point: “This is a Catholic country.”

Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:

2012/11/14: Telegraph(UK): Icelandic volcanoes could heat British homes
Volcanic heat from Iceland could generate electricity to power British homes within a decade, according to experts. The geothermal energy would be piped to Britain through the world’s longest seabed power cable but would be no more expensive than the next generation of nuclear energy.

2012/11/15: BBC: Gazprom to build new gas pipeline to Europe
Russian gas company Gazprom has committed to building an expensive pipeline that would deliver Russian gas to southern Europe. The South Stream pipeline is due to start operating in 2015, eventually bringing up to 63bn cubic meters of gas annually to as far as Greece. It will be funded by Gazprom, Italy’s Eni, France’s EDF and a unit of Germany’s BASF. The pipeline will travel under the Black Sea via the Balkans. Some analysts have estimated the cost of the pipeline at about 16bn euros ($20.4bn; £12.8bn) and Gazprom is expected to fund half of the total capital expenditure. Gazprom signed the final investment agreement with its European partners late on Wednesday and will start construction next month. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. The South Stream pipeline was first suggested in 2007. It follows disagreements with the Ukraine and Belarus over gas pricing, which has led to gas being cut off to some parts of Europe.

Biofuel bickering abounds:

The answer my friend…:

2012/11/18: BCLSB: The Full Nissenbaum
So the Nissenbaum , Aramini, and Hanning paper, that purported to show a connection between proximity to wind turbines and a decline in sleep quality, has been given a working working over by a number of experts in a short report commissioned by (full disclosure) the Canadian and American Wind Energy Associations. The result is here; the general conclusion:

Overall, in our opinion the authors extend their conclusions and discussion beyond the statistical findings of their study. We believe that they have not demonstrated a statistical link between wind turbines – distance – sleep quality – sleepiness and health. In fact, their own values suggest that although scores may be statistically different between near and far groups for sleep quality and sleepiness, they are no different than those reported in the general population. The claims of causation by the authors (i.e., wind turbine noise) are not supported…

2012/11/13: NatureNB: Bosch quits Desertec
[…]
The decision comes just two weeks after Siemens had announced its exit from the consortium. Siemens, based in Munich, Germany, said last month it will pull out from the loss-making solar business altogether

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

<regards>

-het

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

Comments

I don’t claim to have read all of these, but Omer Aziz’s editorial on a carbon tax for Canada is spot on.

Nothing convinces me of a person’s brilliance more than his conformity to my own way of thinking!

And this is the idea that goes right past so called climate “skeptics”: Even if we cannot know with certainty how bad climate change will be or when it will be that bad, the measures we can take now to mitigate risk are *consistent with multiple other policy goals*, such as deficit reduction and energy security. Even Charles Krauthammer supports fossil fuel taxes.

Our only hope is to change minds to see plain sense, one dumbass at a time . . .